Russell Banks, RIP

Two of his novels have really stuck with me: Cloudsplitter and Lost Memory of Skin. Different as they are in theme, what both books share are humanizing portraits of deeply flawed, troubled, complex men, and an accompanying exploration of what it means to lead a moral life. I have sometimes wanted to read some of his other books, such as The Sweet Hereafter, but the movie version was devastating enough. Banks did not flinch at the sad or the ugly.